Waiting to Give
words and music by Gabrielle Louise
I don't want to be your saving grace!
I couldn't anyway, even if I tried.
Damn right I want no one taking your place,
but honey I'm hurt now, and honey I'm tired.
I stopped counting on someday,
I'm not waiting on one day,
I'm just walking from yesterday
with my back to the wind.
And you'll find your own way,
your own way to celebrate
every blessing that today
is just waiting to give.
I'm not the kinda woman to just jump ship.
I couldn't anyway, even if I tried.
But I've been down here searching at the bottom of it
like the God-damn anchor to which you're tied.
I stopped counting on someday,
I'm not waiting on one day
I'm just walking from yesterday
with my face in the sun.
And you'll find your own way,
your own way to celebrate
every victory that today
has already won.
So stop counting on someday,
waiting on one day,
and angry with yesterday?
Babe, that's no way to live.
Oh, we'll find our own way,
our own way to celebrate
every present that today
is just waiting to give.
Oh, we'll find our own way,
our own way to celebrate
every present that today
is just waiting to give.
Cherish Sincerity
words and music by Gabrielle Louise
In the mid October sky all the birds are takin' flight around four o'clock,
and all the beasts on the ground hunker down in their beds of straw.
He cracks the kindling, and I set the kettle on to boil.
We sit by the window, watch the wind blow.
The moonlight laying on the land like a gentle hand resting on my knee.
Oh, just to know that he's there, just to know that he cares,
it lifts me.
It's a gift to me --
Cherish Sincerity.
We wake up to a whining in the middle of the night, around four o’clock.
The dog has heard a mountain lion screaming like a siren out on the rocks
So he cracks the kindling, and I set the kettle on to boil.
We sit by the window, watch her move through the shadow
and moonlight laying on the land like a gentle hand resting on my knee.
Oh, just to know that he's there, just to know that he cares,
it lifts me.
We don't have to speak
The eyes do not think of how to see.
The lungs do not think of how to breath.
The ears do not think of how to hear.
Some things are clear:
The moonlight laying on the land, a gentle hand resting on my knee.
Oh, just to know that he's there, just to know that he cares,
It lifts me.
It's a gift to me --
Cherish Sincerity.
Someone Else’s Life
words and music by Gabrielle Louise
Mariana wakes up before me, and moving lightly 'cross the floor,
she hardly makes a sound as she pulls the curtain down
so I can sleep a little more.
Mariana steps into the morning, Dice "hola" a Luis.
I can hear them on the ground, thirteen stories down,
laughing in the street.
And it must be noon
by the time I move
from the room.
And it's nearly five
when I open up the blinds,
let in the light!
I wanna wash up on the shore of him, cause I'm feeling tiny and half-drowned,
but for now I tread time inside of Someone Else's Life,
feels like I'm waiting to be found.
Oooh, the sea is still.
Oooh, what do I feel?
Mariana's packing up her memories because he asked, and she's sure.
Now they're fussing over rings, and everything she'll bring
is in boxes on the floor.
And I'm trying to recognize that it's not fair to him:
to come around when I'm feeling torn.
So for now, my heart hides inside of someone else's life,
inside of someone else's...
Worlds below me
settle slowly
into coals.
and all the people in the park
lifting children in their arms,
it's getting dark.
I want to wrap him up around me, wear him til he's worn.
But for now my heart beats inside of someone else's dream,
and mine is waiting to be born.
Cold Missouri Waters
written by James Keelaghan
Love on the Rocks
words and music by Gabrielle Louise
Oh the hour is getting restless,
the second hand just pounds.
I load up my defenses,
you load up on the town.
If you don’t head home broken
it’s cause you’ll head home fixed,
mouthing something lowball
taking little nips!
It’s just when I let my guard down,
man, you’re taking shots.
You just like your lovin’
on the rocks.
It always seems so harmless,
just something to relax,
but it’s crazy how life mocks you now,
melting in your glass.
I remember when I met you
I thought you liked love neat?
Didn’t take a nightcap, man,
to crawl between the sheets.
Oh I might shake it up or stir it once
with something posh,
but you just like your lovin’
on the rocks.
Some daddies take a pick me up,
and it was gin and tonic in your mamma’s cup,
But your mind, it ain’t never mixed,
oh man, there’s only one thing gives your grin that twist:
It's straight up, yeah, and always well,
cause you don’t have the money for that high shelf!
It’s just when I let my guard down
I hear the bottle pop.
You just like your lovin’
on the rocks.
If the Static Clears
words and music by Gabrielle Louise
Well he thinks he’s got it figured out
He thinks he’s got it pegged
I’m someone he can do without
If there’s static in his head
He says he’s got it all worked out
But most nights are the same
He’ll bolt and lock his tired heart
Forget about the way
we made the day roll by so easy
And maybe we are a story now
I have told too many times
And maybe he’s an anxious breeze
whispering
in the wind chimes
Some days I take it all to heart
Break right down and cry
Some days I take it like a pill
Swallow it with pride
The only way to tell him now
About the things I feel
Is to dress them up in melodies
So if the static clears
It’s playing on the radio
After the morning news
Or maybe in a dream he had
About the way
We made the day roll by so easy
Another Round on Me
words and music by Gabrielle Louise
The bandaids are off
The babies are grown
The bible was a game of telephone
My shrink said “get out,”
My man said “stay home” —
Let's have Another Round on Me!
The bums are all crazy
But the politicians are insane
We’re painting picket signs
In the pouring rain
They say “The more folks are sick,
The more the doctor get paid!” --
Let's have Another Round on Me.
Upside down!
Everything is upside down.
Inside out!
Lord, it’s inside out.
So let's have another
Bring it to me, brother...
There’s coke in the cradle
Debt in the grave.
The buddhists are boring
Yeah, and the Christians are saved!
Send me straight to hell because I’d rather get laid --
Let's have Another Round on Me.
Upside out!
Everything is upside out.
Inside down.
Lord, it’s inside down.
Well the bourbon is gone now
There’s no bees in the breeze
There’s a little boy living
On a million machines
And his mamma’s in the lobby
Reading fashion magazines! --
Let's have Another Round on Me.
We’ll butter all the clocks,
Butcher all the locks,
Oh, we lost the keys
Betting on baseball cards,
Batting in the racing yard,
And there’s no turn on green!
Our youth is going poof! In a cloud of perfumes,
The factory of fantasies is an empty room.
Pour me some propaganda in my Disney cartoon --
Let's have Another Round on Me!
Fat Man (in the Golden Suit)
written by Justin Evan Thompson
Graveyard Ballet
words and music by Gabrielle Louise
She moves through the crowded streets
Satin slippers on her feet
She comes every Sunday
Brings a bouquet
Slipping through the iron gate
The dying day rests in golden rays
Filing down the aisles
To the seat that is saved
With her name, for...
The Graveyard Ballet
The Graveyard Ballet
Tonight he is dancing
In the Graveyard Ballet
The Graveyard Ballet
The Graveyard Ballet
Tonight he is dancing
In the Graveyard Ballet
the chatter of a passing breeze
Falls to the hush of remembering
Now every set without him
Built of paper-mache
The night conducts a melody
A symphony stirs in the leaves
She can feel him lift her by the waist
When the shadows play
The Graveyard Ballet
The Graveyard Ballet
Tonight they are dancing
In the Graveyard Ballet
The moon drops like a spotlight
On the cemetery stage
The clouds part like a curtain for
The Graveyard Ballet
If you’re the type for listening
You can hear the crinoline sway, in
The Graveyard Ballet
The Graveyard Ballet
Tonight they are dancing
In the Graveyard Ballet
She will lay down beside him
And the kings of this cruel world
We all will share the same bed that we’ve made
We’ll all go dancing
In the Graveyard Ballet
Breathe Easy
words and music by Gabrielle Louise
There's a way this old house speaks to me,
there's a way the floor boards groan,
there's a comfort in the quiet
I keep when I'm alone!
But I spend half my time
just wondering what's behind those pretty blue eyes.
You give me prickles and pins
all over my skin
with your Saturday smile.
I'm not asking to settle down,
You can come and go as you please,
But inside your kiss I drown...
I drown and I breathe,
breathe and I drown,
drown and I breathe.
Out in the open desert
there's a warm and reverent glow,
a strength and a sorrow
in the way the shadows grow.
And it feels just fine not to need you tonight,
(I'm just doing my thing)
but when you come back by
I'm gonna treat you like you're my centerpiece.
My centerpiece!
I'm not asking to settle down,
You can come and go as you please,
But inside your kiss I drown...
I drown and I breathe,
breathe and I drown,
drown and I breathe.
Breathe easy.
Baby you can breathe easy with me
when you come around.
I'm not asking to settle down,
You can come and go as you please,
But inside your kiss I drown...
I drown and I breathe,
breathe and I drown,
drown and I breathe.
And it fills me up to feel so good,
yeah it fills me up to feel so good,
oh it fills me up to feel so good and to feel so... free.
Made for Something More
Lyrics by Gabrielle Louise & Justin Thompson
Music by Gabrielle Louise
Oh there's freedom in this country
You're free to pace the floor
and if you don't think the rooms locked
try the door
There's a young man down in county
he was stealing for his family
first he was unfettered, now unfurled
Oh a man can own a gun
maybe he can rob someone
But a man can own a bank and rob the world
Oh, you can make it in this country
unless your gay or sick or poor
Yeah, if you don't think the room's locked
try the door
They put the poor kids in the back room
thirty-six a class room
And the second day of school there's even more
They're damned if they're not reading
They'd be better off just cheating
cause all that really matters is the score
We teach em freedom in this country
then we send em off to war
And if you don't think the room's locked
try the door
No more blank stares
or blinking eyes
Don't turn away, don't deny
it's time
to recognize
I was just a child when it happened
He shut me in the bathroom
Asked me which way I would prefer
So I grew up half-thinking
I was put here just to please men:
to smile, laugh...defer.
But the woman in me came to know
I was made for something more
Oh if you don't think the room's locked
try the door
Oh every woman in this country
has been shaken to the core
So I say if the room's locked...
storm the doors.
(for our inspiring first lady, Michelle Obama, and for my sister Sarah Isobel, who teaches our children love and equality,
and for whom I always want to make the world a better place.)
The Dark Island
Instrumental
The Ragpickers Dream
written by Mark Knopfler
Pockets Full of Faith
words and music by Gabrielle Louise
It's gonna feel real good to leave here
I've been counting down the days
Til I made up my mind for the final time
My pockets full of faith
My pockets full of faith
It's gonna feel real good to leave here
All you got is what you make
I'll be breathing a sigh at the county line
My pockets full of faith
My pockets full of faith
Ooooooo yeah yeah yeah
I never needed anyone
Ooooooo yeah yeah yeah
Now it's just the two of us
Ooooooo yeah yeah yeah
(Me and my wanderlust)
It's gonna feel real good to leave here
And lighten up the weight
Watching fear disappear in the rear view mirror
My pockets full of faith
My pockets full of faith
Ooooooo yeah yeah yeah
I never needed anyone
Ooooooo yeah yeah yeah
Now it's just the two of us
Ooooooo yeah yeah yeah
(Me and my wanderlust)
When I'm making changes
I always sing a new song
And the daylight's fading
my road grows thin and long
It's gonna feel real good to leave here
And lighten up the weight
Watching fear disappear in the rear view mirror
My pockets full of faith
My pockets full of faith